The present invention relates to a new and distinct hybrid cultivar of Medinilla plant, botanically known as medinilla sp., hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘ROYAL ZENZ’. The genus of Medinilla belongs to the Melastimataceae family.
The new Medinilla ‘ROYAL ZENZ’ is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventor. Ely Bak and Nico D. M. Steur, in Assendelft, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to develop a new Medinilla variety with good growing habit and attractive inflorescence.
The New Medinilla ‘ROYAL ZENZ’ originated from a cross made in the controlled breeding progeam by the inventors in 2008, in Assendelft. The Netherlands. The female or seed parent is the Medinilla selection designated ‘834918227’ (unpatented), and the male or pollen parent is the Medinilla selection designated ‘834927015’ (unpatented). ‘ROYAL ZENZ’ was discovered and selected by the inventors in 2010, as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Assendelft, The Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new Medinilla hybrid ‘ROYAL ZENZ’ performed by vegetative means by cuttings was first performed in 2010, in Assendelft, The Netherlands. The first ‘ROYAL ZENZ’ plants propagated through the use of the cuttings flowered in 2011, in Assendelft, The Netherlands, and have demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new cultivar are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. The new cultivar reproduces true-to-type.